By Vernon Daley,
Staff Reporter
THE JAMAICA Teachers Association (JTA) has complained about the slow pace of appointment of Master Teachers, four years after the idea was proposed to provide an alternative promotional stream for long-serving educators.
"We would love it to be speeded up, because it came out of a reclassification exercise some four years ago and, to date, only a token number have been appointed," president of the JTA, Judith Spencer-Jarrett, told The Gleaner yesterday.
Minister of Education, Burchell Whiteman yesterday admitted that there have been delays in the appointment of the teachers. He, however, explained that he could not give details on the cause for the slow pace as he had not had a recent update on the matter.
The Minister referred The Gleaner to the Chief Education Officer, Wesley Barrett, but up to press time last night, Mr. Barrett did not return calls made to his office.
Mrs. Spencer-Jarrett, however, noted that a number of teachers had been approved to become Master Teachers, but their appointments have not been effected because the Ministry has not carried out the necessary assessment.
She said the JTA has not been vocal on the issue because the association has been trying to get the Ministry to pay those teachers who have already been appointed.
Of the 10 Master Teachers who were appointed in January 1999, many were not paid outstanding money up to September this year, Mrs. Spencer-Jarrett said. She pointed out that the payments were only made recently after several meetings between the Ministry and the JTA.
The proposal for appointment of Master Teachers is aimed at allowing senior teachers who do not want to take on administrative duties at their schools, to be allowed the opportunity of another route of promotion within the system.
Over 100 teachers were short-listed for positions of Master Teachers, but to date, only 10 have been appointed.
